1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique about a composite material incorporating a matrix which is metal and fillers which are vapor-phase-epitaxial carbon fibers.
2. Related Art
Aluminum or an aluminum alloy which is excellent in heat conductivity is employed to manufacture a heat sink or the like to locally cool and radiate heat from a CPU or the like.
The size of notebook-type apparatuses and hand-held apparatuses each of which cannot be provided with a radiating fan has been reduced. Thus, a variety of apparatuses having considerably reduced weights have successively been developed. Moreover, increase in the number of clocks (the operation frequency) results in enlargement of the quantity of generated heat from the apparatus.
To meet the contradictory requirements, a material having a reduced weight and excellent heat conductivity has been required.
An object of the present invention is to improve the foregoing problem experienced with the conventional technique, that is, to provide a composite material having a considerably reduced weight and excellent heat conductivity.
To solve the foregoing problem, a composite material according to the present invention is a composite material comprising: vapor-phase-epitaxial carbon fibers in the form of feather-like fibers; and metal.
A method of manufacturing a composite material according to the present invention is a method of manufacturing a composite material comprising the steps of: dispersing vapor-phase-epitaxial carbon fibers in solvent and shifting the solution into a container; removing the solvent to form a fiber layer constituted by the vapor-phase-epitaxial carbon fibers; placing, in a pressure container, the fiber layer, a filter and metal; producing vacuum in the pressure container; and heating and melting the metal so that the fiber layer is impregnated with the molten metal through application of pressure.